Tag Archives: Tampa Office Market

In 2010, Larry Feldman and his investment partners had decided it was time to strike when the iron was hot. Tampa Office vacancies had plummeted, which took office prices with it. Feldman was gun shy of the Tampa region, as he really did not see it is a market worth pursuing.

Finding deals in other markets, however, proved to be challenging, so he decided to take another look at Tampa and MAN, is he glad that he did! The rock bottom prices presented a handful of opportunities that were too good for Feldman to turn away. Since then, he has been one of the biggest deal makers in the area and stands to make millions on bets that the office markets had bottomed out purchasing the Wells Fargo building in Downtown Tampa and Morgan Stanley building in St Petersburg, among others.

Feldman’s strategy has been to focus on the core business sub-markets (densely populated downtown office space cores), buy under-leased real estate at rock bottom prices, invest in building renovations, build relationships with brokers and try to flip. He stands to make millions from his timing of this market.

Feldman and his partners bought the Wells Fargo building, one of the signature office buildings in downtown Tampa for $115 per square foot and invested $15 per square foot in improvements. Replacement costs for the asset could approach as much as three times what they paid for the property.

He credits his strategy for working closely with brokers as a reason for quick turn-arounds on assets with stubbornly high vacancy rates.

Feldman is not your typical hands off institutional asset manager. He is very involved in the property management of his real estate. He subscribes to the old fashioned way of “Management by Walking Around.” On any given day, you can find Feldman in his Downtown Tampa office in the Wells Fargo building, working the phones, walking the property, checking on his tenants and trying to work on creative ways to make sure the brokerage community keeps him on the top of their list when they have a hot prospect.